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Students carry Confederate flag to Dean appearance
Herald Tribune ^ | 11-14-2003 | ROSS SNEYD

Posted on 11/14/2003 3:44:04 AM PST by buffyt

HANOVER, N.H. -- A group of students who attended Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean's appearance at Dartmouth College on Thursday unveiled Confederate flags as he was introduced.

The group of about nine students, whom fellow students and Dean campaign staffers identified as conservative activists, did not otherwise disrupt the former Vermont governor's speech about paying for higher education. And Dean did not acknowledge them or refer to controversy surrounding his recent remark that he wanted to attract voters with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks.

The students sat with the flags draped across their shoulders throughout Dean's appearance.

Dean declined to comment as he left the college auditorium where he delivered his speech. Spokesman Matthew Gardner later dismissed the incident as "a political trick. And it's sad that whoever is behind this felt forced to resort to misrepresentation."

The demonstrators refused to say whether they were affiliated with any college organizations, even though one of their names appeared in the conservative publication Dartmouth Review as a contributor.

Student Xi Huang said he and his fellow demonstrators wanted to make a statement about what they felt was Dean's inappropriate use of the Confederate flag image.

"He said that for six months, and just recently gave an apology," said Huang, 19, of Boston. "We felt his apology was insufficient."

Dean's appearance also was marked by posters around the Dartmouth campus bearing the Confederate flag image. The posters were identical to ones Dean's campaign had printed, except that they were against a backdrop of the Confederate flag and they said "sponsored by young Democrats."

The president of Young Democrats at Dartmouth, Paul Heintz of Cambridge, Mass., said his group had nothing to do with the posters.

"The idea that we would have any part in using that symbol in any sort of way is preposterous," he said.

Heintz, who said he supports Dean, doubted that the incident was organized by any of the other Democratic campaigns. "I would say it has a lot more to do with a very small number of students who are socially conservative," Heintz said.

Another student in the group with the flags, Jonathan Beilin, 18, of Claremont, Calif., said that the incident was not orchestrated by any other campaign. But he refused to say how the students got together on the idea.

"It was fairly loosely formed," Beilin said.

Huang said that his interest in the demonstration was to make a statement about stereotyping.

"What's the difference between stereotyping a Southerner with a flag and stereotyping Asians? We're using it as something to draw attention."

Dean generated a firestorm of criticism when he told the Des Moines Register, in an interview published Nov. 1, that he wanted to be "the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." He had made similar statements earlier in the campaign.

Several of Dean's rivals for the Democratic nomination attacked him for the remark after the Register story, saying the Confederate flag was a painful symbol to African-Americans and that the remark had demeaned many progressive-minded white Southerners as well.

Dean apologized for the remark on Nov. 5, saying, "I deeply regret the pain that I may have caused" people who were offended by it.

He explained that he was trying to say Democrats need to reach out to white Southerners who in recent years have abandoned their party to vote Republican.

Laurel Stavis, a spokeswoman for Dartmouth College, said it wasn't clear to her whether the demonstration or the posters violated school policy.

"There's no speech code," she said. "There's a difference between speech and behavior. We do have a college regulation that speaks to offensive behavior, but not to offensive speech."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: New Hampshire
KEYWORDS: 2004; activism; confederateflag; dartmouth; dean; dixielist; howarddean; metrosexualredneck
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To: buffyt
Now why didn't I think of that.
21 posted on 11/14/2003 6:51:31 AM PST by 1Old Pro (ESPN now has 4 little wimpy sissies left. I'm switching back to FOX.)
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To: Non-Sequitur
So, I take it you don't find this whole incident funny? You don't think these students did a good thing in embarrassing Dean?

Do you ever participate in FReeps? I'm guessing no, based on the attitude I'm seeing...

22 posted on 11/14/2003 6:52:40 AM PST by Chad Fairbanks (What if we see sailfish... jumping... and flying across the magnificent orb of a setting sun?)
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To: buffyt
What is funny is this: The guys with teh flag may not have been conseravtives and may actually be Dean supporters.
Just a bit off balance in their support.
*chuckle*
If they're not conservatives, they will be soon.
Lib-think does not approve of being shown the light of truth, nor does it approve of any form of perceived mockery.
23 posted on 11/14/2003 7:04:49 AM PST by Darksheare (Proving that there are alternate perceptions of surreality Since Oct 2, 2000.)
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To: buffyt
earlier post: FREEPERS in NH? - Dean Pays Filing Fee Amid White Sheets and Confederate Flags.
24 posted on 11/14/2003 7:05:55 AM PST by Xthe17th (The War Between The States was not a civil war.)
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To: Chad Fairbanks
So, I take it you don't find this whole incident funny?

Funny? I find the whole thing ridiculous.

25 posted on 11/14/2003 7:07:00 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
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To: Non-Sequitur
Why is that? I mean, sometimes, when dealing with politicians, we "little people" have to get a little creative to make our points... that's what these kids were doing, and it seemed to have made the democrats REALLY uncomfortable, so what's the problem?
26 posted on 11/14/2003 7:10:06 AM PST by Chad Fairbanks (What if we see sailfish... jumping... and flying across the magnificent orb of a setting sun?)
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To: buffyt
For many people, the Confederate battle flag stands for regional pride and even for resistance to neo-imperialist corporatism and cultural homogenization. For these people, it is nearly the opposite of an "American swastika".

I grew up in a state with both a Rebel and a Yankee heritage, so I know. And even President Harry S Truman, who integrated the armed forces, had a picture of Robert E Lee in his office in the White House!

27 posted on 11/14/2003 7:16:10 AM PST by Honorary Serb
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To: madison10
Don't Southerners attend Ivy League Colleges?

Yes they do. A few years ago (somewhere back in the clinton era), there was an "incident" where a Harvard undergraduate hung a Confederate battle flag out a window in her room, and refused to take it down (at least for awhile) when attacked by the poobahs of the politically correct. She said that she displayed the flag to express her Southern pride. I don't remember what the final outcome was.

It would have been refreshing to see a liberal Democratic candidate for President champion those who love the Confederate flag, and NOT apologize for it! Unfortunately, that is not possible in the politically correct climate that we live under today.

28 posted on 11/14/2003 7:24:39 AM PST by Honorary Serb
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To: All

Loads faster than Dartmouth's flag

29 posted on 11/14/2003 7:25:40 AM PST by finnman69 (cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animos)
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To: billorites; MeeknMing
"Dean is remarkably preoccupied with himself."

Now, why would you ever say a thing like that?

Dean's Flag Comment Stirs Southern Ire

Republicans wins Kentucky and Mississippi governor race

NOTE TO ALL DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: KEEP BASHING THE SOUTH!

(This is for you Dean: How many of them drive pickup trucks?)

Send it to the DNC for mass distribution.


More like foot in mouth (Bigfoot, that is!)

I asked to see what a METROSexual looked like and BAM!

Howard Dean

Howard Dean


Howard Dean says he's running for President, and on paper he's quite a candidate.

He's the longest-serving Democratic governor. He signed the first law in the country to allow gay unions. And, he's got the endorsement of America's favorite president-that-isn't: Martin Sheen.

Google Search for Metrosexual

HELP!

metrosexual (aka Male Democrat)
(MET.roh.sek.shoo.ul) n. A dandyish narcissist in love with not only himself, but also his urban lifestyle; a straight man who is in touch with his feminine side.
metrosexuality n.

Example Citation:
The only problem facing the metrosexual in an otherwise carefree existence is the inescapable effects of ageing. If 30 is 45 in gay years, then 26 is retirement age for the metrosexual — and no amount of biotechnological, rehydrating, whale sperm dermo-care can alter that.
—Jonathan Trew, "I love me so much," The Scotsman, July 24, 2002





30 posted on 11/14/2003 7:29:20 AM PST by Happy2BMe (Nurture terrorism in a neighborhood near you - donate to your local community mosque.)
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To: Non-Sequitur
"Otherwise they are no different than Dean in using the confederate flag for their own political purposes."

What's that you say - you've never heard of the good 'ole Xing Huang family from Little Rock, Arkansas?

:~)

31 posted on 11/14/2003 7:31:03 AM PST by Happy2BMe (Nurture terrorism in a neighborhood near you - donate to your local community mosque.)
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To: Happy2BMe
Dean, the metrosexual redneck.
32 posted on 11/14/2003 7:37:03 AM PST by TigersEye ("Where there is life there is hope!" - Terri Schiavo)
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To: stainlessbanner
In his speech, Dean proposed repealing President Bush's tax cuts so college students could get $10,000 yearly in federal aid.

That might be one of his dumbest, most pandering moves. All that $10,000 would do is to allow colleges to raise costs by $10,000 and everyone still ends up paying the same. It would also be a nice subsidy for those "students" who could then go to a state college for free, party on until they flunked out, and make serious students miserable.

But, alas, he's pandering to Dartmouth students in this speech. The $10,000 sounds like a nice start for the cost of their educations there.

33 posted on 11/14/2003 7:39:34 AM PST by grania ("Won't get fooled again")
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To: Happy2BMe
hehe !

And I liked TigersEye's comment: Redneck metrosexual. ha! ha!


34 posted on 11/14/2003 8:21:18 AM PST by MeekOneGOP (Will work for tagline)
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To: MeeknMing
You might be a metrosexual redneck if:

... you hunt deer with rubber bullets.

35 posted on 11/14/2003 8:59:13 AM PST by TigersEye ("Where there is life there is hope!" - Terri Schiavo)
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To: TigersEye
hehe ! ...

36 posted on 11/14/2003 11:02:44 AM PST by MeekOneGOP (Will work for tagline)
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To: Chad Fairbanks; Non-Sequitur
when dealing with politicians, we "little people" have to get a little creative to make our points

I don't think it's funny, creative, or cute. Enough Americans died following that flag that its misuse is as inappropriate when performed by snot-nosed ivy-league punks as it is by bozos in white sheets who think it means something it doesn't. Note that these college kids were using it to 'embarass' Dean, obviously adhering to the KKK's attempted hijacking of the flag as a symbol of racism.

37 posted on 11/14/2003 6:21:37 PM PST by Gianni (Stupid people suck)
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